The disc around IRAS 13481-6124

Astronomers have been able to obtain the first image of a dusty disc closely encircling a massive baby star, providing direct evidence that massive stars do form in the same way as their smaller brethren —and closing an enduring debate.In order to discover and understand the properties of this disc, the astronomers employed ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). By combining the light from three of the VLTI’s 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes with the AMBER instrument, this facility allows astronomers to see details equivalent to those a telescope with a mirror of 85 metres in diameter would see. The resulting resolution is about 2.4 milliarcseconds, which is equivalent to picking out the head of a screw on the International Space Station.

Herkunftsnachweis:

ESO/S. Kraus

Über das Bild

ID:eso1029b
Typ:Beobachtung
Veröffentlichungsdatum:14. Juli 2010 19:00
Dazugehörige Veröffentlichungen:eso1029
Größe:800 x 800 px

Über das Objekt

Name:IRAS 13481-6124
Typ:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk
Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Young Stellar Object
Entfernung:10000 Lichtjahre
Kategorie:Stars

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Farben & Filter

SpektralbereichTeleskop
InfrarotVery Large Telescope
AMBER